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tv   The Ed Show  MSNBC  February 22, 2013 5:00pm-6:00pm PST

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let me finish tonight with this. this sunday is of course the occasion for my other interest in life. the first is politics and how this country should be run and what it should be in the world, actually. my other interest is movies. i really try to see the good ones and root for them on academy award night. i'm going to be doing it this sunday. i think the great thing about the academy awards is watching talent win out. and i'm talking about the writers, directors, and actors who stick their necks out on a movie project sometimes that no other studio wants to make. this year my heart is going to be riding heavily on "silver linings playbook." it's a bit of a long shot against movies like "lincoln" which is really good and "argo" which is great. it has a lot of people rooting for it, "silver linings playbook", and i'm one of them. thanks for being with us. a great week here. "the ed show" with ed schultz starts right now. good evening, americans, and welcome to "the ed show" from new york.
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republican lies infecting the mainstream media. it's time to get rid of the virus, don't you think? i'll show you how. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. >> it's going to be very painful for the flying public. this is a big deal. i think republicans need to step up here. >> the white house issues a wake-up call as republicans and the right-wing media keep ignoring the facts. >> this is a problem. >> the austerity bomb keeps ticking, and republicans have their head in the sand. >> i would say balderdash. it's untrue, unfair, dishonest, disingenuo disingenuous. the president is making stuff up. nascar steps up to the plate for the families of sandy hook victims. i'll ask driver michael waltrip about the new 26 car he is driving at daytona this weekend, and about the message he is sending. 150 fbi agents raid the scooter store. >> quick, we have to hold him. and fast! >> i'll show you why this is good news for defenders of the
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big three. plus, the ridiculous bail in the pistorius trial. and everybody in the office is making oscar picks. >> everybody? >> nate silver is playing the odds, and i'm playing my gut. >> don't waste that power. >> the big picks are coming up. >> get that out of here. >> good to have you with us tonight, folks. thanks for watching. we are one week away from devastating federal government spending cuts to kick in. republican strategy so far is to keep repeating the lies about the sequester over and over again to catapult the propaganda. >> we're weeks away from the president's sequester, and the president laid out a plan to eliminate the kuester and the harmful cuts that come as a result of it. >> speaker boehner has his members in lockstep behind the talking point. they insist the president has no plan. >> we acted months ago, acted twice last year. the president actually suggested
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sequester in the first place, has never put a proposal on the table. >> now, we expect politicians to lie and leave out details like $1.2 trillion in cuts before any kind of new revenue came. in but when journalists get involved in the act, it's really a bigger problem, folks. you see, "new york times" columnist david brooks is a conservative, but he presents himself as someone who is reasonable and willing to see both sides of an argument. so it was rather puzzling today when brooks blamed the president and republicans for failing to avoid the sequester. the columnist wrote "the president hasn't actually come up with a proposal to actually avert sequestration, let alone one that is plausible clot. "he should know how to use google or at least pick up the telephone. or at least he should know how to go to the white house website, because if he had he
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would have seen the president's proposal. it is very detailed. it offers a two-to-one ratio of tax cuts to increases. it is by all measures a compromise. brooks was dragged over coals by other journalists for shoddy work. he wrote "the white house has proposed various constructive changes to spending levels and entitlement programs. these changes are not nearly adequate in my view, but they do exist, and i should have acknowledged the balanced and tough-minded elements in the president's approach." you think? this is what brooks should have written in the first place. but it's hard to blame david brooks alone for spreading these falsehoods, because the problem is much bigger than just one writer in new york. meet pete peterson. peterson is a wall street mogul who has spent an estimated half a billion dollars protecting rich investors at the expense of the 99% of americans. you see, peterson is behind the group fix the debt. the group claims spending is way
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out of control, and we need deep cuts in the entitlement programs. the figureheads for fix the debt are these guys, the austerity brothers, erskine bowles and alan simpson, and believe me, they don't have to worry about their retirement being lost or their pension or their health care. now the current issue of "the nation" magazine reports peter timed the launch of this new $60 million campaign to exploit the wrangling over the fiscal cliff, the debt ceiling and the sequester, the misinformation campaign has worked. a bloomberg poll on the size of america's budget deficit shows 62% of americans think the deficit is getting bigger. 28% of americans think that it's staying the same. and get this number, only 6% agree with the truth. my friends, the deficit is shrinking. the congressional budget office says the deficit is down to $845 billion. it is projected to be $600
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billion less than when the president took office. americans need to break out of this misinformation loop, don't you think? if they want to listen to a republican, maybe they should try listening to outgoing transportation secretary ray lahood. he spoke about the sequester consequences today, including the loss of 100 air traffic controllers. >> this requires compromise. this requires republicans stepping forward with some ideas about how to keep essential services of government running at the level that people have been accustomed to. this is not rocket science. >> well, it's not rocket science. but, folks, it is just as serious. get your cell phones out. i want to know what you think. tonight's question, will republican lies prevent a deal on the guester? text "a" for yes. text b for no to 67622. you can go to our blog at ed.msnbc.com. we'll bring you the results later on in the show.
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joining me tonight david cay johnston, professor at syracuse university and pulitzer winning journalist. great to have you on with us tonight. why did these groups like the fix the debt outfit want americans to think the deficit is just out of control? >> oh, it's central to their whole marketing campaign. they represent very wealthy people like pete peterson who want all the benefits of living in america. and by the way, where are the pete peterson factories and the pete peterson payroll people. they're just financial speculators at blackstone. it's crucial that they're making huge fortunes while not doing anything productive. so they'll do anything they can to argue we are in terrible trouble if we maintain government services that actually help real businesses do business like airlines and food companies. >> i guess when i look at the numbers that are playing out right now, you have to have the question, is deficit reduction an urgent problem that needs to
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be faced? because it seems like the president's plan wants to take care of this over time. that if we, you know, mind our p's and q's financially, and don't go off into war and not pay for them, that we are strong as a nation, and our economy is strong enough to recover from this piece by piece. what about that? >> well, this is where i would be critical of the president, ed. i think we would have faster economic recovery if we weren't laying off police officers and firefighters and school teachers all over the country. if you look at the reagan era, one of the things reagan did was a huge ramp-up when the economy was in trouble of government employees. but without question, the deficit is coming down to where it should be. which is slightly above spending or a balanced budget. it's going in that direction. the president has had the smallest growth in discretionary spending in numerous presidents as opposed to the big spender george w. bush who came ahead of him. >> dave, stay with us.
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i want to bring in steve benen, msnbc contributor. good to have you with us tonight. why are mainstream journalists repeating this lie about president obama not having a plan to replace sequester? >> well, i can only speculate about what brooks and others are thinking. but i would think in all likelihood, there is a forced equivalence between left and right and democrats and republicans, it doesn't really exist. i think for many pundits who are so eager to avoid any sense of bias or any sense of maybe one side is more responsible for problems than the other, that they have to say that both sides are always to blame, regardless of the facts, regardless of the circumstances. we see pieces like the one we saw in "the new york times" today where the president is getting blamed even though he is not ultimately responsible and hasn't done any of the things he is accused of doing. as a consequence you hear a lot of pundits saying things like the deficit is getting worse when it's getting better.
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that spending is up when it's down. all tease things that are completely detached from reality. it's very frustrating to watch. >> well, the budget control act, the president did sign it. but a bunch of republicans voted for it to get it to his desk there is shared responsibility here. but the thing that is so frustrating is that the lies are out there by conservative media saying that it's all the president's fault. the fact is they are so draconian. it was a movement to try to get these two sides together so we wouldn't be at this point right now. so the point is here, steve, did democrats and the white house lose the message game on the deficit? >> i don't think so. i think that if you look at the polling that came out this week in particular, we said to president and the democrats in congress have a real advantage when it comes to public perception and public attitudes here. the president has produced a balanced approach where there is a combination of spending cuts and new revenue from closing tax loopholes. i think that reflects the fact that they have actually done a
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fairly good job in winning over the american mainstream. it's republicans who are really suffering, however. there is ample polling data this week that shows republicans are on the wrong side of the american mainstream when it comes to the sequester, when it comes to spending, when it comes to compromise. when you look at this larger arc, i think it's fair to say when it comes to the message war, democrats are coming out ahead. and that matters, of course, next week. republicans are thinking if they go through with this and the sequester hits, then they'll be able to say well, this is the white house's fault. it's the obama sequester talking point they've been so fond of. but all available evidence suggests that the public will blame republicans, not democrats, if this happens next week. >> all right. let's hear from transportation secretary, outgoing transportation secretary ray lahood. he was explaining today why this is so important. here it is. >> i would describe my presence here is one word -- republican. they're hoping that maybe i can influence some of the people in my own party. >> david, is there a chance some
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republicans can talk sense to the rest of this party, or is this going to happen? >> i think we have to consider the possibility, ed, that the republicans out in the field and the republicans on capitol hill belong to two different parties. some of the polls are showing a majority of republicans are opposed to what the leadership is doing on the hill. and of course that's trying to deal with the tea party people who are at the core of this. >> you know, some republicans say the sequester cuts won't be so bad. i mean rand paul is out there saying it's the least thing that we can do. steve, is he right or wrong? >> you'll be surprised to know that i think rand paul is wrong. i think this notion that the sequester cuts will be meaningless, look no further than john boehner. john boehner himself has said that this will be a disaster. orrin hatch, republican from utah said this week talking to a local newspaper that he thinks this will be a disaster. i think that even rand paul when it comes to his rhetoric on the sequester is part of a very
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small minority of even republicans, because i think there is bipartisan agreement that this is a real problem, that the american mainstream regular folks are going to feel a real pinch, and it's going to do harm to the economy, the military and public needs. i think rand paul is in the minority on this one. >> of course, the end of march is certainly going to do something as well. they're going to have to figure out what to do with the budget there. in fact, i want to put it to both of you. what happens when we're approaching another deadline at the end of march and this time to avoid a government shutdown? >> well, ed, as i said on the show some time ago, i think we're in for two years of the craziest behavior we've ever seen in washington. not until we get another election are we going to get some sort of sensible, thoughtful how do we develop the commonwealth necessities for creating private wealth and making business work when you have a group of people who don't seem to understand any of the fundamentals that the economy depends and has a foundation in
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the services government provides, like air traffic control and food safety inspection. >> steve, your thoughts. >> i think that's right. but i would just add that republicans a little wary about 2014 mid terms. i think they realize if there is a government shutdown and the public blames them that john boehner's majority is very much in doubt, and it could be eliminated. so i think that that fear may just possibly prevent a government shutdown in march. >> all right, david cay johnston, steve benen, good to have you with us tonight. appreciate your time. remember, share your thoughts with us on twitter at ed show and on facebook. we want to know what you think. coming up, nascar is paying tribute to newtown, connecticut, with a special 26 car at this week's daytona 500. driver michael waltrip and team owner brandon davis are here next to talk about it. stay with us. ♪ ♪
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ted cruz is channeling joe
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mccarthy again, and rand paul says the president is being dishonest about the sequester. the big panel takes on the latest right-wing conspiracies. and hollywood is rolling out the red carpet for this year's oscars coming up sunday night. i'll tell you who i think will win it. and why the academy has already made a serious mistake. don't forget you can listen to my radio show on sirius xm radio channel 127 monday through friday, noon to 3:00 p.m. share your thoughts with us on facebook and on twitter u use #edshow. we're coming right back. hi. hi.
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i'm here to pick up some cacti. it should be under stephens. the verizon share everything plan for small business. get a shareable pool of data... got enough joshua trees? ... on up to 25 devices. so you can spend less time... yea, the golden barrels... managing wireless costs and technology and more time driving your business potential. looks like we're going to need to order more agaves... ah! oh! ow! ... and more bandages. that's powerful. shareable data plus unlimited talk and text. now save $50 on a droid razr maxx hd by motorola. thanks for stay with us tonight. the shooting massacre at sandy hook elementary school renewed
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an intense debate on gun control in this country. and on sunday, the tragedy will take center stage at nascar's biggest race of the year, the daytona 500. two-time daytona champ michael waltrip will be driving this tribute car instead of the usual 200 miles per hour billboard. waltrip's team changed the car's number to 26 to honor the 20 first graders and six adults gunned down in december. this paint job encourages fans to send a text to donate $10 to the sandy hook school support fund operated by the united way. nascar's chairman donated $50,000 to the fund after the waltrip made this emotional visit to newtown earlier this month. i'm joined now by nascar driver michael waltrip and brandon davis, the own over swann racing who are getting ready for sunday's race in daytona beach, florida. congratulations on qualifying yesterday. great to have you on "the ed show" tonight, as well as you, mr. davis.
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>> well, we really appreciate it. yesterday was a lot of pressure to put that number 26 text newtown to 80888 toyota into the field. it was a big deal for our team and that community to know that they're going to have something to cheer for coming on sunday in the great american race. we couldn't be prouder to represent the community, and we couldn't be prouder for the nascar family rallying around this great cause. >> michael, why did you turn your car into a tribute to newtown? >> well, mike helton, who is a nascar president had a friend who lived in the newtown area, and his grandson was in school that day when the tragedy occurred. and hans relik is the name. could you get some of the first responders a tour? show them the racetrack so they can come down. that is all it took to try to
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figure out how he could do more than that. he called me up and said we love to put newtown to 80888 on your car and have you represent the community. and brandon davis, our car owner was kind enough to allow us to put the livery of the newtown connecticut town and the school colors on the race car. but before we wanted to announce to it the world to tell everybody what we were doing, we took that trip up to newtown and visited with first responder, teachers, even some of the victims' families. and indeed, it was quite an emotional moment. and from that day until now, i left part of my heart in newtown. and i'm so thankful we're able to get that car in the show. it was lot of pressure for our team to get in. we're in now. and we're going to celebrate sunday. and hopefully give those folks in newtown three hours or so of joy, something that they can sort of take a break from the tragedy and enjoy seeing their car on the track. >> brandon davis, what kind of reaction are you getting from fans? what kind of reaction do you
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think you're going to get on sunday? >> we've had a very good reaction so far. one of the things that really surprised me when we were in newtown unveiling the car, michael and i and brian franz, the local fire and rescue were there, of course, the first responders. and they mentioned to us that they had a daytona 500 watch party every year. and they were very excited that now they're going to be on the car. and i'm very happy to support that everyone i know across the country is behind this. and i hope everyone, whether they're a nascar fan or not, gets behind newtown and texts newtown to 80888. >> i have to ask you, michael, the shooting in newtown renewed the gun control debate on many fronts in this country. of course the sandy hook parents have spoken in favor of regulations such as background checks and maybe some other thinkings. where do you come down on this issue at all, or does that matter? >> we are here to race cars, and any time our community is
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hurting, we rally around the races. it's how we heal ourselves. and if you think about the healing process that the town of newtown and the folks from sandy hook are faced with, this runway is very long. years and years of therapy and counseling and just trying to heal these folks and make them -- try to return to some sort of normal it is. and we don't know what all that is going to entail and what all it could encompass. so we're here to race our car do, what we do best, celebrate the event, the daytona 500 with the wonderful tribute and an honor to the folks in newtown. that's as political as we're going to be because we're just thankful that it's been received so well by the town and how happy they are they're going to have a car on the track. >> sure. and obviously, brandon, the united way says the sandy hook school support fund has raised over $9 million so far. where do you hope the money will
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go? >> i hope that it goes to helping the families that need it. and they need as much help as they can possibly get. not just the money, but support. and they need to know the rest of the country is behind them. i know there has been a lot of controversy over this, after this incident across the country. and this, we're hoping to pull everyone together to get behind the families that are in need, because they're going to need it for a long time. >> michael waltrip and brandon davis, you're doing great things for newtown, connecticut. the town certainly needs it. i know they appreciate it. best of luck to you, gentlemen, in the big race coming up on sunday. we'll all be watching. thank you so much. >> we really appreciate it. and the fact that you had us on tonight helps us to spread the word. so you're doing great things too. thank you. >> thank you very much. >> you bet. and coming up, the fbi takes down the scooter store scam. i have the details on how much medicare fraud has cost you and how the government is fighting back. and the right-wing smear
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machine kicks into high gear. tackling the latest conspiracy theorys from rand paul, ted cruz and others. it's all coming up. stay with us. [ male announcer ] julia child became a famous chef at age 51. picasso painted one of his master works at 56. doris taerbaum finished her first marathon at 50. not everyone peaks in their twenties. throughout their lives. passion keeps them realizing possibilities. an ally for real possibilities. aarp. find tools and support at aarp.org/possibilities.
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♪ back to you.
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welcome back to "the ed show." it's the same old story. in an effort to cut spending, republicans want to raise the medicare eligibility age. currently the minimum wage is 65 years old. now if republicans had their way, they would push it to 67 years old, two additional years could really devastate seniors. 270,000 seniors would become
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uninsured. the solution to our budgetary problem isn't cutting benefits and breaking a promise made to our seniors. we need to cut down on the rampant fraud. you might be surprised to learn just who is ripping off the government these days. >> imagine one scooter or power chair that could improve your mobility and your life. one medicare benefit that with private insurance may entitle you to pay little to nothing to own it. one company that can make it all happen. >> your power chair will be paid in full. >> the scooter store. >> oh, the ol' scooter store. they've spent years convincing patients to buy motorized wheelchairs, telling them the government will pick up the bill, not a problem. but former employees told cbs news the company's strategy was to bulldoze doctors into writing prescriptions so people would get the chairs whether they needed them or not? well, on wednesday, federal and state agents paid a little visit to the scooter store, raided the joint headquarters in an alleged fraud investigation. the inspector general of hhs
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released a report finding that industry-wide, 80% of medicare payments for power chairs, they are made in error. now, you see from 2009 to 2012, government auditors found that the scooter store overbilled medicare by as much as $108 million. it's estimated that medicare fraud costs taxpayers an estimated $60 billion to $90 million each year. the obama administration has made it a top priority to cut down on health care fraud. for every dollar spent on investigating health care fraud the past three years, the government has recovered $7.90. when republicans tell you that gutting medicare benefits is the only way to cut spending, make sure you remind them about the ol' scooter store, and tell them to crack down on the waste, fraud, and abuse before they come after seniors. i would say balderdash.
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it's untrue, unfair, dishonest, disingenuous. the president is making stuff up. >> up next, the big panel on the sequester truthers coming out of the woodwork and the sequester scare from ted cruise. and the bail decision in the blade runner trial. and then there is the other oscar. 48 hours until hollywood's biggest night. i'll tell you who should be taking home the hardware. when e something made your jaw drop? campbell's has 24 new soups that will make it drop over, and over again. ♪ from jammin' jerk chicken, to creamy gouda bisque. see what's new from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do.
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people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. if you're still having difficulty breathing, ask your doctor if including advair could help improve your lung function. get your first full prescription free and save on refills at advaircopd.com. thanks for watching the "ed show" tonight. the right wing smear machine was hard at work again today. we have several examples, but let's start with senator rand paul of kentucky, who is spending his vacation telling fox news viewers the looming budget crisis is really not a big deal. in fact, senator rand paul says that the president is lying. >> i would say balderdash.
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it's untrue, unfair, dishonest, disingenuous. the president is making stuff up. >> making stuff up. rand paul says he is not worried about $85 billion in budget cuts between now and september 30th, even though his own party leaders say sequestration threatens the nation's security. military readiness, and the economy. now senator paul wants us to believe sequestration is a good thing, and the president is just overreacting. >> the sequester is a slowdown in the rate of growth of government. it's the least we can do for the president to use this histrionics is beneath the presidency. >> let's get reaction from our panel. michelle goldberg from "newsweek" and the daily beast. john walsh and political strategist angela ragg. is the president overreacting?
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let's just say rand paul is spot-on. john nichols, is the president overreacting? >> he absolutely is not overreacting. the sequester is austerity. it is -- it's not slowing the rate of growth. our population is growing. our needs are growing. if you slow down the amount of spending you've got at a time when you have growth and population, you are making severe cuts. and the sequester is really the first installment on an austerity agenda that poses huge threats according to government and private sector analyses to our abolishmeemployment rate an potential for growth. the president is not lying nor is he being historionic or overboard. >> i don't know what the president strategy is, but it looks to me like there is not one. they're saying different things and reacting on different points and none of them make sense.
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when you talk about sequestration or across the board cuts, we're talking about things that impact the lives of real people. they want to see small government. well, small government doesn't work when you have a large population. whether it's food inspectors or health care programs, or cuts to education programs that are vital to the success of our country, we're talking about a magazin massive issue here. there is no dream or nightmare really is what sequestration would be all about. it's not fate. this is a real issue. it deserves real attention. we cannot continue to have these piecemeal solutions that continue to put us in a crisis governance mode. we just can't do it anymore. >> and michelle goldberg, what are we seeing the republicans do here? they're calling the president a liar. they're saying he doesn't have a plan. they're saying this all a his fault. >> well, they're doing a bunch of different things, right? on the one hand you have some republicans like rand paul saying the sequester is no big deal, that if it went into effect it would slow the rate of government, which is kind of their entire reason for being.
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at the same time, you have other republicans saying this isn't our fault. this is all obama's idea. they want the get as far away from any responsibility for the sequester as they can. you know, i think kind of depends on how much they have drunk their own kool aid. and that's a battle that you see within the republican party. the people who are true believers in the tea party ideology, maybe people like john boehner who are willing to humor it, but at the end of the day know that a lot of these policies if enacted will be catastrophic and that the republicans will be blamed for them. >> what do you think, john? are they just going to go with these -- this sequester, hit the deadline, let it start to peel on the economy a little bit and continue to blame the president? do they think they can turn the numbers in their favor with this strategy? >> from what i hear, talking to republicans and democrats, there is a view within the mainstream of the republican party. not the rand paul fringe, but the mainstream that they should let the sequester go forward on the theory that they need to
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tell their base that they are standing up to obama. when the president stepped up and said we have to do something, the base immediately said oh, no, if the president wants it, we don't want it. it appears that even some of the supposedly more sensible players in the republican party are willing to let the sequester happen, willing to let the pain happen. >> yeah. >> to satisfy their base. >> michelle, who pays the political price on this, once it all plays out? >> well, i would like to think that the republicans will pay the political price. and it seems likely. i mean, given the popularity ratings of the republican party and of congress more generally. and it seems that you can't quite -- you can't say as some of them are trying to say that the sequester isn't a big deal, but all of the pain from it are going to be obama's fault. when people start feeling these cuts in their real lives as they're going to, it's going to be pretty obvious who it's been that has been willing to kind of shut down the government or derail the economy in order to
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force these austerity measures. >> we have gone from boehner the summer of 2011 saying he got 98% of what he wanted to all of the sudden this is all the president's fault we're at this point right now. they don't know what they want right now. they're an unguided missile politically, and they're searching for an identity and they're going to let it go through because they're winging the whole thing. let's talk about another member of the smear team. ted cruz is reportedly accusing harvard law school of harboring communists. the new yorker posted this story today, quoting a teach ted cruz gave while he was campaigning a couple of years ago. cruz reportedly said the communists were members of the harvard law faculty while he was there between 1992 and 1995. cruz refused to comment on the speech today. senator cruz was recently criticized for making some unverified allegations against chuck hagel last month. angela, what about this? is cruz just trying to make a
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name for himself with the tea party, or is he really on a witch-hunt? >> senator cruz is a rebel without a legitimate cause. i don't know what is going on with him. but every time you turn around, there is some new hyperbole that he is spewing. and today to see him talking about, you know, the president is the most radical president ever, i'm sorry, but i want to know what the definition of radical is, because to me, radical is a president who would come up with a mass communications campaign to deceive the american public into believing there are weapons of mass destruction. i hardly see anything that president obama has done as radical. >> senator barbara boxer loosely compared ted cruz to joe mccarthy. john nichols, your thoughts. that a fair comparison? >> sure it is. when you suggest that there are communists on a faculty, and then when you're pressed about it you don't answer the questions, you play around with it, that's mccarthyite tactics. the one thing that is really important is not focus so much
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on ted cruz, but to focus on the leadership of the republican party. in the 1960s and the 1970s, william f. buckley and barry goldwater and ronald reagan called out members of their own party when they went to fringe arguments and made claims that are not legitimate matt. the problem with ted cruz is not ted cruz. it is the leaders of the part mitch mcconnell and john boehner and others. >> do you think they'll do that? >> i can't see what they'll gain from it. you have seen a few attempts. mccain called him out. lindsey graham called him out. >> mitch mcconnell has his own problems to worry about without calling out ted cruz, wouldn't you think, michelle? >> but the problem is the leaders of the party, even very conservative leaders are so incredibly cowed by their base. for a long time you had a party that very adroitly whipped up the frustrations and paranoia
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and suspicions of their base. they're no longer controlling the base. the base controls them. and so there is not much leverage they have over it. >> they have just enough control to screw things up so legislatively nothing gets done. that's about where they are right now. let's talk about another texan and louie gohmert. >> we have some people who think sharia law ought to be the law of the land and forget the constitution. but the guns are there. the second amendment is there to make sure all the rest of the amendments are followed. >> what about that, angela? >> well, first and foremost, i want to say that america is a land of laws. we have the united states constitution. we've got the united states code, and we have states and municipalities that have laws that are enacted on a regular basis. sharia law is not one of them. the disrespect to islam notwithstanding, this is highly problematic there are no facts given in the opinions that they constantly put out, they get air
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time. i'm trying to understand the standard for obstruction of justice at this point. this is illegitimate points they consistently make, and they get air time and space in papers for this. it's just outrageous to me. it really is. >> michelle goldberg, john nichols, angela rye, yesterday to have you on "the ed show" tonight. i appreciate your time. it was an emotional day in court for olympic star oscar pistorius. up next, the latest on today's controversial bail hearing in the blade runner trial. that's coming up next. and oscars. ecial occasion. so she makes her new mini cream pies with real cream filling and milk chocolate on a cookie-crumb crust. marie callender's. it's time to savor. to volunteer to help those in need. when a twinge of back pain surprises him. morning starts in high spirits, but there's a growing pain in his lower back. as lines grow longer, his pain continues to linger. but after a long day of helping others, he gets some helpful advice. just two aleve have the strength to keep back pain away all day.
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tax money. all good. karen says maybe we should put congress on minimum wages. let's see how they would fare on it. you can go to our facebook page right now and join in on the conversation. don't forget to like "the ed show" when you're there. still to come, i'm picking my favorites for sunday night's academy awards. see how my picks are going to stack up against the experts. stay tuned. stay with us. were going on vac, so i used my citi thankyou card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? and with all the points i've been earning, i was able to get us a flight to our favorite climbing spot even on a holiday weekend. ♪ things are definitely looking up. [ male announcer ] with no blackout dates, you can use your citi thankyou points to travel whenever you want. visit citi.com/thankyoucards to apply. i'm here to pick up some cacti. it should be under stephens. the verizon share everything plan for small business. get a shareable pool of data...
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and we are back. after four days of combative hearing, world famous athlete, olympic athlete oscar pistorius has been granted bail. also known as the blade runner, pistorius is accused of murdering his girlfriend in south africa on valentine's day. pistorius is facing one count of premeditated murder. earlier today, a magistrate released the double amputee on bail, set at $112,000. michelle kosinski of nbc has the latest details from south africa. >> hi, ed, right. this finally did happen.
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after four tense days of arguments. and when it was finally read out, oscar pistorius sobbed, broke down, his body shaking. and even though you might say that this was fully expected, the judge really kept everyone guessing. i mean his ruling lasted two hours. in it he criticized prosecutors, saying that their witness, this chief police investigator presented flawed evidence. some of the things he said were just wrong, you should have done more work on the case. but that doesn't mean that the state's case is not strong. then he criticized pistorius, saying he had problems with his account of what happened early that morning, saying if he felt so vulnerable, so scared as he claimed that he had to grab his gun and start shooting, not knowing who was in that bathroom, why did he rush right into the danger? but ultimately, he ruled that pistorius was not a flight risk, not a danger to the community, and released him on bail. pistorius has to surrender his passports, his guns, can't use drugs or alcohol, can't return
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to the scene of the alleged crime, which is his house. needs permission to leave his town, and will have to check in with police twice a week. ed? >> that was nbc's michelle kosinski reporting from pretoria, south africa. tonight in our survey, i asked will republican lies prevent a deal on the sequester? 84% of you say yes. 16% of you say no. coming up, i'll tell you why i'm actually pulling for a republican on sunday night. david edelstein of "new york" magazine is here to preview the academy awards. stay with us.
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staples. that was easy. and in the big finish tonight, the oscars are sunday night, and everyone in the office is making their predictions, right? your office is like ours? okay. i'm going to give you mine in just a moment. the oddsmakers are going with "argo." an 85% chance of winning. it also is the pick of nate silver of 538.com. "argo" portrayed the rescue of six americans during the iran hostage crisis back in 1979. "zero dark thirty" depicted the ten-year hunt for osama bin laden. the movie actually sparked a senate investigation. one of my favorites, "lincoln," of course, possibly one of the best political movies i think ever made. then there was "silver linings playbook," a truly funny, unusual, and moving film about a
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man with bipolar disorder. of course, every year there are movies and actors who are sadly overlooked. ladies and gentlemen, i give you the campaign. ♪ my country 'tis of thee ♪ sweet land of liberty >> after cam brady's baby-punching incident, marty huggins has jumped 11 points in the polls. joining me tonight is david edelstein, chief film critic of the "new york" magazine and contributor for cbs sunday morning. do i have a shot at this? i probably shouldn't hold my breath. >> i think it's a terrific performance. and i definitely think that you really nailed the sort of gravity of the moment and the lightheartedness. i'm just talking out my butt here. i have no idea.
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>> believe me, i can do it for 20 minutes as well. david, great to have you with us tonight. >> i am very happy to be talking about an oscar that didn't kill somebody either tonight. >> what do you think? >> tonight. >> best picture? >> best picture, everybody is saying "argo." and they're saying "argo" because ben affleck, right, didn't get nominated for best director. so his loss is the movie's win. it's kind of funny anylike that in hollywood. it's not so much artistic merit, it's who can we award. who needs the bucking up. >> of all the pictures i saw this year, when i came out of "lincoln," a week later i went back and saw it again, i was so impressed with it. both times i left the theater thinking how can that not win? i just had that feeling. does "lincoln" have a great shot at getting best picture? >> i thought so. but maybe it just wears its gravitas too loudly, you know.
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maybe just people, you know, came out of it awed, and now they just think back and go i don't really want to see that again. i don't want to think than movie. i don't know. i don't know. i loved it too. i loved it a lot more than i loved "argo." >> best actress, i like jennifer lawrence. i thought she was terrific in "silver linings playbook." >> well, i think she is definitely going to win. jessica chastain i thought had a great shot. but "zero dark thirty" got caught up in all the torture stuff, and we know that despite what that movie says, torture does not work. and if you can point to anything to prove that, it's that "zero dark thirty" will not win an oscar. >> is this a tough year to pick tough actor? >> no. hugh jackman's got it in a lock, absolutely. ha ha, just kidding. of course it's daniel day lewis, of course. >> really? >> i can't even remember who else is in the category, i'm afraid, i know. >> bradley cooper! bradley cooper. >> he's great. >> when i was watching him, it
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was this is just this guy being this guy. it was like there was no script at all. >> i don't know if he would like to hear you say that since he is playing a lunatic. every time this time of year, i get really sad. all these people do these great things. we have to view everything these days through a prism of a competition. some of my favorite performances telephone year didn't get nominated. but what the hell, let's talk about the guys who did. >> best supporting actor? >> well, everybody says de niro. and you know why? because de niro was out there campaigning. he was pressing the flesh. whereas tommy lee jones who i thought had the best chance is kind of widely regarded as a sour puss. >> does that matter? >> of course it matters. you're not going to talk to me about art, are you? we're talking about politics. it's all about politics, i'm afraid, i'm afraid. >> so it's really not who the best is. it's really maybe who they like and de niro knows that? >> i don't want to minimize the fact that these people have